Advice for Enlisted Veterans Leaving the Service With No Career Direction

As a recruiter, I’ve tried to help fellow Vets when they have MOS’s that don’t translate well into 1st Civ Div. Enlisted seemingly have no real direction. Just a pile of money from a war zone, if we didn’t get sucked into those high interest car payments. Several people I knew started pumping gas when they got out, or work at convenience stores, because they simply didn’t know what to do.

The first thing you need to recognize is that most companies say they require a 2-4 years degree for an entry level job that, in fact, does not require any special skills whatsoever. So don’t be afraid to apply to those positions. The only reason that they say a position needs a 2-4 year degree is because college degrees are in such abundance, that it becomes more of a concept of the fact that they ‘stuck it out’ for 2-4 years. Your Resume has to be geared proving you’re a very hard worker. Try to tone down anything that can be perceived as acts of violence. It used to be a joke in my Unit that you aren’t a Marine unless you used your E-tool to fend off your enemy.... Not in Corporate America..... You used your ingenuity to maximize the functionality of the tools you posessed, to achieve the desired successful outcome.

Look at that. You went from Hard Charger, to Corporate Blue in one long and mostly meaning sentence. But it looks good. I know it sounds funny. But I see sentences like this on just about every resume I read. It’s just churching up a very basic thought.

Next, you should aim your sights at positions that the average person is unable/unwilling to do, because of fear. They pay well. Personally, I chose sales. You are rejected several times on a daily basis, and you sweat all summer in a suit going from office to office. It’s a thankless profession, and your past success doesn’t matter because your manager will say “That’s nice, but what did you do for me today”. But the harder you work, the more financially successful you can be. $70k-$90k at sales plan, is the normal entry positions, depending on what you sell. Unfortunately/Fortunately the way society is going, we are extremely well suited for these positions, because a lot of Americans have become thin skinned, so they can’t handle the constant rejection. So through your single mindedness to achieving success, despite your consistent failures (in the beginning), you are able to learn a valuable career skill. Additionally, you have respect for rank, and the chain of command. Managers like that because they feel like they are good leaders when their subordinates don’t talk back, or challenge them, but instead just do what they’re told.

Smile. The biggest problem I immediately had when I got out, was that I needed to loosen up. No one wants to buy anything from someone who doesn’t smile, because people buy from people.

And Finally:

If you do get into sales, the types of companies you want to work for offer a Base Salary ($25k-$50k) PLUS commission. Don’t work for companies that are 100% commission. They have an extremely high turnover and they rely on the fact that you offer them cheap leads because they aren’t paying you, and expect you will quit (more often than not). But they still have those leads. Ask about their training program. If the company is going to invest 1-2 weeks in an in-depth training program, you can be assured they are INVESTING IN YOU and your success.

Personally, I believe heavily in B2B. Which is Business to Business, you’re selling to businesses. Selling to consumers almost always offers low commissions, and the training is often bad. It teaches you bad mannerisms and it becomes more difficult to transition from B2C (Business 2 Consumer) to B2B.

HOW YOU GET A JOB WITH THESE COMPANIES

I’ll give you an anecdotal situation first:

When I moved to Manhattan I knew I wanted to work for 1 of 3 companies (Canon, Xerox, Konica Minolta). The only problem is that as a new guy, I was a dime a dozen. So for Canon, I walked in and gave the Secretary my Resume. I got the interview, but they weren’t particularly blown away by me, so I never got a job offer. For Konica Minolta and Xerox, I called up acting like an irate businesses owner so I could get patched through to a Manager. When I got the Voicemail of a Manager, I said this “Hi ______, This is Robert Masi. I’m your newest hire, and I’d like to get an interview with you in the next few days so we can make this happen”. I got a call back from both. And an immediate hire after 1 interview with KM, with a 2nd interview call back from Xerox.

If you’re looking to get hired by a sales organization, you have to figure out how to be bold. Getting yourself in the door for an interview is the most difficult part. It’s easier to sell yourself than it is for a resume to sell you. So make sure your resume is solid, remember it’s who you are when you are absent, but if you make an impression while you’re there, as a salesperson, that’s even more powerful.